The present invention relates to a method of producing FR901228 which is useful as an antibacterial agent and an antitumor agent. More particularly, it relates to a method of producing FR901228 which comprises culturing a FR901228 producing strain in a medium added with at least one amino acid selected from the group consisting of L-arginine, L-histidine, L-cystine and L-cysteine or salt thereof.
FR901228 is a compound produced by culturing a strain belonging to Chromobacterium, e.g., Chromobacterium violaceum WB968 strain (FERM BP-1968) in a nutrient medium, and represented by the following formula (Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7 (1995)-64872):

In addition to the fermentation method described above, it is known that FR901228 can also be prepared by semisynthesis or whole synthesis utilizing techniques known in the art (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 118, 7237-7238 (1996)).
FR901228 is known to have a histone deacetylase inhibiting activity (Nakajima, H et al., Experimental Cell Research, 241, 126-133 (1998)), and it has been proposed to expand its utility as an antibacterial agent and an anticancer agent.
However, the fermentation method shows an unsatisfactory production titer of FR901228. Accordingly, it has been demanded a discovery of a strain excellent in FR901228 producing ability or development of a production method capable of increasing the yield of FR901228.